The vintage Silacci called classic

The first vintage was 1979. The winery in Oakville opened for the 1991 harvest. This 2023 comes from two parcels inside To Kalon, plus Ballestra and the River parcel around the winery. The season opened wet, with 36.12 inches of rain. Budbreak was April 12, bloom May 30, veraison August 11, and the pick ran from September 14 to October 16, with no heat spike to rush it. Silacci called it an exceptional expression of a classic vintage.

If the estate still releases only one grand vin a year, what is this 2023 saying that the older Opus bottles in the shop are not?

Dunnuck set his 98 with the 2010, the 2016, and the 2021. Galloni's 98 is red and purple fruit, mint, orange peel, and chalk, and he wrote drink 2031 to 2053. The fruit is organically grown on the estate. Overture, on the other page, is the second wine.

Red fruit, then the graphite

The estate note opens on red fruit, cherry blossom, and dried violet, then vanilla, graphite, forest floor, and tobacco. The palate is elderberry and cassis, black pepper, and chocolate-covered orange peel, with red plum and sweet oak on the finish. Dunnuck's 98 reads cassis, black raspberry, flowers, and graphite, and he gave it 30 to 40 years.

The blend they printed

81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot, and 1% Malbec. Twenty-two days on the skins. Nineteen months in French oak. Alcohol on the trade notes is 13.5%.

One wine, two families

Rothschild and Mondavi named it Opus because an opus is a single work. The estate still releases one grand vin a year, on October 1, after the barrel time and another fifteen months in bottle. This page is the 2023. The older Opus listings in the shop are other vintages.

Ribeye. Lamb.

A Cabernet-led Oakville blend wants a ribeye with a crust, or lamb with herbs.